Aluminum Association calls on Trump administration to address aluminum overcapacity in China

In a letter to Treasury Department Under Secretary David Malpass, the Aluminum Association, Arlington, Virginia, calls on the Trump administration to address China’s structural aluminum overcapacity when meeting with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen Aug. 22-23 in Washington. Malpass leads the U.S. delegation in trade talks with China.

In the letter, Heidi Brock, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association, writes of Chinese overcapacity, “This is a foundational problem confronting the industry not only in the United States but also around the world.”

In a news release regarding the letter, the Aluminum Association says, “Illegal government subsidies in China for both primary aluminum and semifabricated aluminum products have resulted in significant overcapacity in the market, hurting U.S. workers and threatening the industry’s continued health.”

Chinese smelters can now make nearly 11 million more metric tons of primary aluminum than China actually consumes, the association says in the news release, noting that the excess capacity is equal to nearly all U.S. aluminum demand.

In the letter Brock says this overcapacity “is hugely disruptive to the global market and reduces certainty for future investment in the United States—a concern if we want to maintain our momentum.”

Subsidized overcapacity further downstream has driven a 230 percent increase in Chinese imports of semifabricated aluminum into the U.S. since 2012, the Aluminum Associations says in the news release.

In the letter, Brock writes, “Now that the United States has recognized the issue of overcapacity and is pursuing tangible commitments from China to address longstanding issues, we see a unique window of opportunity for the U.S. government to comprehensively address the persistent problem of Chinese aluminum overcapacity. With so many policymakers acknowledging the problem since the announcement of the 232 tariffs, now is the time to act on this issue impacting our growth in the United States and across global markets.”

The full text of the letter is available here. More information is available at www.aluminum.org/TimeforAction.